Homeland Security

Homeland Security

Introduction

Information is, indeed, of prime importance and necessarily in emergency situation as its plays an essential role in order to initiate an effective response or the decision making process in the times of emergency. Ironically, emergency situations are, more often, characterized by simultaneous overload or, in stark contrast sometimes, the shortage of information. That what exactly is that one must know- what is nature of emergency situation, where it has happened, when and what could be the possible impact - is, most of the times, vague and obscure especially in the early stages of emergency situations. Rather, it happens usually that one receives a mass of inaccurate, confusing or even conflicting information that needs classification and verification. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of natural and human initiated disasters.

The role of news media is of utmost concern in today's world where everyone relies heavily on the appropriate flow of information (Patterson, & Wilkins, 2011). This paper will discuss the role of media in emergencies and relevant implications.

Discussion

Role of News Media

These are times of the crises as during the 20th century, the mankind suffered from thousands of natural and manmade crises and disasters. According to the statistics, nearly 15,833 natural and manmade disasters have been reported in from 1900 to 2006. What is more ironic is that the most of these disasters occurred in the short time span of 6 years from the year 2000 to 2006. Obviously, journalists and news media play an increasingly important role in disseminating effective information in the times of emergency such as natural disasters, terrorist attack and other incidents capable of inflicting considerable damage on the people and infrastructure. For example, news media effectively disseminated much needed information when hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit United States. Similarly, it was the news media that provided the wealth of information when the tsunami struck along the coastline of Indian Ocean which resulted in large scale destruction, killing more than 300, 000 people and leaving millions homeless in South Asia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India.

The effective dissemination of information by news media also helped in informing the world about the need of assistance from international community in order to rehabilitate those affected by the disasters. September 11, 2001 was another incident when news media such as television, radio, newspapers, news magazines and online social media was the primary source of information for the majority of adults in United States and those living in other countries (Bullock, Haddow, & Coppola, 2012).

Furthermore, news media effectively provided information about the sources and risks of terrorism when terrorists hit four commuter trains during the rush hours of morning in Spanish city of Madrid in 2004. 191 people have been reported dead and nearly 1200 sustained injuries in the bombings. Another important incident was July 2005's coordinated terrorist attack on London's subway, killing 56 while injuring 700 people, most of them on their way to work during the wee hours.

Augmenting Fears

The swift dissemination ...